Artificer Cultivator

Since the two were not familiar with each other, and cultivators' appearances and ages often didn't match—there were never few who ate Youth-Preserving Pills and never grew physically—if he were too eager, Chen Qing might think he was an old man with a child's appearance and some strange fetish, attempting something nefarious. That would be terrible.

Therefore, Chen Ganliu didn't say much. After a polite exchange with Chen Qing, he turned and left.

He was somewhat familiar with this Immortal Market now. He didn't go far, just found a spot, set up a stall, and started selling low-grade Talismans.

Talismans were commonly used by cultivators. Although almost everyone could draw them, mass-producing them took a lot of time. Many cultivators would rather buy Talismans and use the saved time for cultivation.

The business of selling Talismans had even fewer barriers to entry than Chen Qing's low-grade Magic Tool business, and the profit was even thinner. Only the poorest cultivators would sell Talismans, exchanging cultivation time for meager income.

Chen Ganliu had decades of rich experience as an "extremely poor cultivator," so selling Talismans was second nature to him.

Less than half a day after setting up his stall, he encountered a major buyer who purchased all the Talismans he had accumulated on his journey, netting him one hundred and twelve Talisman Coins.

Hmm, the Talismans Chen Ganliu had painstakingly accumulated over nearly a month weren't even enough to buy a piece of low-quality raw stone. And this was the bulk purchase price; buying a single piece individually would be slightly more expensive.

As dusk deepened, some cultivators in the Immortal Market left by escaping light, while others displayed marvelous Daoist arts. Some hung a gourd on a tree branch and entered it, others flicked their sleeves to erect a dwelling and entered through its door, or formed hand seals and vanished in an instant.

Every kind of spell made Chen Ganliu's eyes burn with envy, only regretting his own inability and insufficient cultivation.

He casually found a large tree and meditated against it for the entire night.

The next day, as dawn broke, Chen Ganliu went to a nearby mortal village to purchase items like axes and knives.

It wasn't convenient to use axes and chisels within the Immortal Market. Chen Ganliu chose seven or eight trees of moderate thickness outside the market. He activated the Azure Emperor Jia Yi Art, channeling True Qi into the axe blade as he chopped. He dragged the logs back to the Suiyang Immortal Market, picked a clearing with a large tree on either side, planted his rough wooden staff, and conjured a wooden house.

For a house conjured by illusion to be habitable, it needed at least to shield from wind and rain, and ideally be cool in summer and warm in winter. A Qi Refining Realm cultivation was not enough for that.

Chen Ganliu conjured the house using illusion not because he wanted to live in it, but as a sample. After adjusting the illusion several times, he finally found a satisfactory style and began building the wooden house.

This wooden house was not only for living but also to serve as a shop for selling Talismans. Therefore, it was divided into two floors. The lower floor intentionally had only three walls, leaving one side open for easy customer access and displaying goods. The upper floor, serving as a residence for meditation and rest, had an illusion added to prevent snakes and insects, prioritizing comfort and ventilation.

After all, Chen Ganliu possessed cultivation, and in his previous life, he had been a carpenter and builder—this was his professional expertise.

The wooden house had a simple structure. In just one day, the two-story wooden house rose from the ground. The large trees on either side were lush with foliage, providing shade from the scorching sun, and a slight coolness could be felt beneath their canopy.

Just as he was contemplating how to arrange the goods—as he could only sell Talismans in the early stages—he heard an old Daoist priest laugh, "Little Daoist friend, your wooden house is quite nice."

Chen Ganliu hurried out to greet him, saying, "It's merely a trivial skill, unworthy of senior's praise."

The old Daoist priest hailed from the Jade Mountain Sect, his Daoist name was Wu Chang. He had long since left his sect and had a cultivation of the sixth level of Qi Refining. He had been in the Suiyang Immortal Market for years, doing the business of Magic Treasures, just like Chen Qing.

However, the Magic Treasures he sold were all high-quality, with each item starting at a price of over a thousand Talisman Coins. In terms of profit alone, it was tens of times more than Chen Qing's, and he had a good reputation in the Immortal Market, considered a "veteran merchant," and was implicitly the spokesperson for the Jade Mountain Sect in the Immortal Market.

Daoist Wu Chang had long wanted to find a suitable residence. The craftsmanship of mortal artisans was crude, making them uncomfortable to live in, and Magic Treasure-grade residences were simply too expensive, so he had never managed to fulfill his wish.

The old Daoist priest had noticed Chen Ganliu when he started working. This wooden house was ingeniously designed. Once it was built, he couldn't wait to approach him.

The old Daoist priest smiled and said, "Last night, I saw the wooden house you newly built was elegant and beautiful. I have been here for a long time and also wish to have a place to stay. So, I wanted to ask, would you be willing to build one for me as well, little Daoist friend?"

"I will certainly not let little Daoist friend labor in vain; there will be compensation."

Chen Ganliu hesitated for a long time, thinking, Building a house for myself already takes a lot of time, including felling trees, which delays my proper cultivation. But this wooden house is just an ordinary object, and it's not appropriate to charge much.

However, if I can take on this job, even if I don't earn much in Talisman Coins, I can befriend a cultivator and gain a connection in the Suiyang Immortal Market.

With this thought, he smiled and said, "It's just a wooden house, not worth much. You can give me whatever Talisman Coins you deem fit; I won't be picky."

The old Daoist priest chuckled and said, "Several years ago, I fought with some unorthodox Daoists and obtained some unorthodox Magic Treasures. I've sold them all successively, except for a Beast Skin Pouch for storage, which I've never sold. How about using this as payment?"

Chen Ganliu was greatly alarmed and exclaimed, "This item is precious!"

The old Daoist priest laughed, "It's not that precious. It's only about the size of three or four rooms inside, and it's ugly. The refining technique isn't very advanced either. I've tried to sell it several times, but no one was willing to take it."

A storage item was incredibly precious. Even the lowest grade would cost thousands of Talisman Coins. Slightly higher quality storage Magic Treasures were even priced in Spirit Stones.

In his previous life, Chen Ganliu had always wanted to buy one, but he never saved enough spare Talisman Coins before he died. His face immediately showed his eagerness.

Seeing that Chen Ganliu was inclined to agree, the old Daoist priest chuckled and handed him a Beast Skin Pouch, saying, "I've already chosen a spot. Why don't you come with me to take a look?"

Chen Ganliu took the Beast Skin Pouch, feeling slightly reassured. He followed Daoist Wu Chang to the plot he had chosen and, using the illusion attached to his rough wooden staff, displayed over ten types of floor plans. The old Daoist priest readily decided on the structural style.

After all, building a house for someone was arduous labor. Chen Ganliu had already been busy for a day and was quite tired. Thus, he agreed with Daoist Wu Chang to start work the next day.

Chen Ganliu returned to his residence and caressed the Beast Skin Pouch given by Daoist Wu Chang, his heart warming. He mused, I thought I would be working for free this time, but I didn't expect Daoist Wu Chang to be so generous. If I can take on a few more such construction jobs, I can save enough to buy a Green Jade Stone within two or three years. It's no longer an unattainable dream.

He couldn't help but activate his Azure Emperor Jia Yi True Qi.

The True Qi flowed into the Beast Skin Pouch like a hot knife through butter, encountering no resistance. He knew that the old Daoist priest must have removed the original owner's spiritual imprint to sell it, allowing him to easily refine this storage Magic Tool.

As Daoist Wu Chang had said, the Beast Skin Pouch indeed contained space equivalent to three or four rooms.

This item was originally not intended for storage but for Magical Combat, so it still contained some miscellaneous energies/impurities.

However, the powerful magical restrictions had been broken by someone, leaving only the small universe technique for storage relatively intact. Due to the heavy chaotic energy, storing items like metal and stone that were not easily damaged was fine, but storing spiritual herbs would cause them to lose their efficacy. The main reason Daoist Wu Chang couldn't sell it was largely this.

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